HORNS (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Most of the pack went out drinking that night, so the house was pretty much ours by the time dinner rolled around.

Since it was supposed to be more of a get together kind of thing, I threw on a plain black hoodie and some baggy cargo shorts before heading downstairs to discuss the plans with everyone. I hated wearing shorts because they made my huge hooves and furry, disjointed, ugly caprine legs stand out more than they already did.

But, it was still better than being balls-to-the-wall naked like I normally was.

They'd wanted to take me out to celebrate, but I wasn't in the mood. The whole reminder of me being unable to go to college had put a damper on me, and plus, Kip and Erika had traveled about two hours to get to our place and were pretty tired from the commute, so we ended up ordering in instead. In the end, it was just me, my father, and my two best friends eating Chinese food in the living room. We served ourselves on ceramic plates. My friends and I sat on the living room sofa while my dad took the nearby armchair, drinking tea while the three of us reminisced about our early years and the days when we'd first met.

It was embarrassing... but kind of fun.

Especially when Erika decided to go on one of her famous rants.

"--and I still, to this day, swear that I can smell that freaking paint in my pillow!" she was in the middle of gushing, waving her fork like a wand. "It was cute, but holy crap, trying to paint a picture on a pillow using acrylics was the stupidest idea they ever had."

"Uh, no, sorry, the stupidest idea we've ever had was that time we all tried to make sparkling apple pops and the apples not only blew up, but caught the house on fire," Kip laughed, and I cringed, making a face with all my teeth showing as I remembered the enraged scream-fest that had happened because of that particular shenanigan over responsibility and bills and danger.

"Lighten up!" Erika complained, kicking him lightly with her bare foot. "We were kids!"

"Umm, no you weren't!" I scoffed, making my father chuckle quietly. "I was seventeen, you were eighteen, and he was nineteen at the time! Legal adults!"

"Barely legal," she sulked, sticking her tongue out.

"Hardly," Kipper snorted, kicking her right back and eliciting a playful squeal.

"Actually, you know what? Yeah, I guess you kinda have a point," she sighed dramatically, fanning her freckled face. "I may not be the youngest or oldest here but I am by far the most mature person in our little group. Honestly, I don't think you boys would have survived without me. I'm impeccable!"

I fought back a laugh when Kip gagged himself and made a show of sniffing the air. I did it a few more times until they looked at me, then sneezed in an exaggerated way.

Erika frowned.

"You okay, there, buddy?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but do you smell that?" I asked, sniffing the air a few more times and, again, faking a sneeze. "Oof..."

"What smell?" she asked, inhaling and frowning. "I don't smell anything."

"It smells like," I murmured, making my eyes go wide. "Absolute bullshit!"

Erika's jaw dropped and Kipper threw his head back with a roar of laughter, and over in the corner I caught my father covering his mouth to hide a laugh of his own. She flamed redder than her hair when I faked sneezing a few more times.

"Jerk," she growled, then looked a little concerned, "but really, why are you sneezing?"

"Oh, that?" I sniffed, rubbing my nose; I grinned from ear to ear. "I'm allergic to bullshit."